“Mom, what medicine is this?”
“It’s to nourish your body. Weren’t you complaining that I made you and your two daughters eat cornbread for half a month? I specially brewed this tonic for you. Drink it, and don’t go around telling people I’ve been mistreating you and your daughters.”
When Bai Lian got home from work in the afternoon, she was greeted by a bowl of dark, foul-smelling Chinese medicine. Remembering what her younger sister had said on the phone earlier, she felt a wave of darkness cloud her vision.
“I’m perfectly healthy. I don’t need any tonic. Mom, you, Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma need it more. This medicine is too precious—I won’t drink it.”
Bai Lian refused coldly and turned to go inside. She needed some peace. The first half of the month had been unbearable—her mother-in-law had been pressuring her nonstop to bear a son. When Bai Lian refused, the woman deliberately fed her and her two daughters cornbread and wild vegetable porridge for every meal.
As an adult, Bai Lian could handle it, but the children were growing. So in the following days, she simply took the kids to eat at the factory canteen. That had infuriated her mother-in-law, who had screamed at her. Unable to take it anymore, Bai Lian had taken the children back to her娘家. She planned to wait for her husband to return from work and have a proper talk with him.
The outcome seemed good. After learning the whole story, her husband had convinced his mother to cook properly and stop forcing Bai Lian to have a son.
Bai Lian thought life would return to normal. But then her younger sister called that afternoon with a warning. Even after hanging up, Bai Lian had clung to a sliver of hope. Now she realized just how naive she’d been.
—
Just then, the door opened, and her two daughters rushed in cheerfully: “Mommy, Mommy! Teacher gave us big red flowers!”
“What’s for dinner? Dad said he might work late…” Qin Shengli, returning with the kids, started to explain that his own father wouldn’t be home. But before he could finish, he saw his mother and wife locked in a standoff. Irritation flared inside him.
“What now?!”
Old Mrs. Zhao, seeing her son, immediately played the victim.
“I went through so much trouble to get this fertility tonic—it’ll help her bear a son! Shengli, tell your wife to drink it while it’s hot!”
Bai Lian: “I’m not drinking it. Having a son isn’t something medicine can guarantee. Besides, we’re in no position to have more children. Two daughters are perfect.”
Old Mrs. Zhao: “Our family has several stable jobs—if we don’t have a son, everything will go to outsiders!”
Bai Lian: “What outsiders? Aren’t Xiao Fen and Xiao Fang named Qin?”
Qin Shengli looked left at his mother, right at his wife, both of them going back and forth. His head throbbed. Unable to lash out, he simply abandoned the women, turned around, and walked out. Before leaving, he muttered, “Going back to work,” and was gone.
Bai Lian was deeply disappointed. But since her husband wasn’t forcing her to have a son, she consoled herself that this was already good enough.
She took her two daughters by the hand and went inside, ignoring her mother-in-law, who was gearing up for a lecture.
—
“You tell me—aren’t I suffering?”
In the early evening, most households were either cooking or eating. But tonight was special. Old Mrs. Zhao of the Qin family skipped dinner entirely and started pouring out her grievances to the neighbors in the hallway.
The neighbors, who had been busy cooking, perked up at the prospect of gossip and no longer minded the interruption.
“I’m already old, and I still haven’t seen a grandson. The Qin family line will end with me. Tell me—isn’t that bitter? What woman doesn’t bear a son? But that Bai Lian thinks she’s so precious—after two daughters, she’s done. Pah! The more children, the better. If I hadn’t hurt myself giving birth to Shengli, I would’ve had ten or eight more.”
At this, the neighbors couldn’t help but think: So you do know childbirth harms the body! Your daughter-in-law suffered terribly when she had her second daughter. Now you’re forcing her to have a son. Aren’t you afraid she’ll suffer again?
“I should never have let Shengli marry her. That Bai family is a dead end. Now their barren ways have infected our Qin family. What a disaster! No wonder the factory director’s family called off the match with the Bai girl. Who would want ties with that kind of family?”
I would…
Xu Jianbei, who had been standing at the end of the hallway listening for two minutes, reflexively muttered “I would” under his breath when he heard the words “who would want ties with that kind of family.” The moment the words left his mouth, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.
It was true—he really did admire Comrade Bai Lian.
He had run into her twice before, and both times he’d wanted to talk with her, to figure out his own feelings. He hadn’t even had a proper conversation with her yet, but listening to this gossip had actually helped him see his own heart clearly.
“Jianbei, what the hell are you mumbling about?” Cao Changsheng thought Xu Jianbei was acting very strange today.
To be precise, he’d been off ever since they bought that dog-skin plaster. If it weren’t for the fact that those plasters were commonly used by the old masters, Cao Changsheng would have thought Xu Jianbei had gone to the wrong place.
Now, the guy had even picked up the habit of listening to old ladies’ nonsense. He’d dragged Cao Changsheng to stand in the hallway for two whole minutes, listening to boring mother-in-law and daughter-in-law disputes and the issue of bearing sons.
As if that weren’t enough, while listening to all this domestic chatter, the man had started talking to himself. Had he gone stupid or something?
Catching the suspicion in Cao Changsheng’s tone, Xu Jianbei immediately elbowed him.
“Hey, you jerk—”
“Shut it. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner.”
“Since when are you so generous?”
Xu Jianbei thought to himself: Because there’s something worth celebrating.
—
Bai Lian had no idea that Xu Jianbei had actually been at the steel factory’s tenement building, overheard her sister’s mother-in-law’s bizarre complaints, and even confirmed his own feelings because of it.
After parting ways with Xu Jianbei at the pharmacy, she first called her elder sister’s office to warn her about the fertility tonic. When she got home that evening, she told the family everything.
“So that’s why your elder sister came back last time—it was definitely a fight with her in-laws. I didn’t think it would be about bearing a son.” Mother Bai sighed after hearing the whole story. The matter of bearing sons wasn’t something humans could control. Look at her—hadn’t she given birth to four daughters? She and her husband both thought daughters and sons were the same.
She hadn’t heard the Qin family complaining about her daughter not bearing a son two years ago. Back then, Mother Bai had been relieved, thinking her eldest daughter had married into a good family. Who knew this issue would surface only now?
She had no idea how long her eldest daughter had been under this pressure!
Father Bai slammed the table. “If they have a problem with it, I’ll bring our eldest daughter back home to live. Hmph, it’s not like she eats their food or wears their clothes. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Bai Li nodded in agreement. She thought their parents were right. But Bai Ping shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what we say—who knows what Big Sister is thinking? She might just endure it like last time.”
And indeed, Big Sister Bai did have that tendency to just endure. The main reason was that she already had two children, and aside from Qin Shengli’s inability to handle the relationship between her and his mother, he didn’t have any major flaws. At least he didn’t hit her, didn’t drink or gamble excessively. His job was decent, and the family had no financial burdens.
Besides, as someone who worked at the Women’s Federation, maintaining a harmonious household was supposed to be her duty.
—
So that evening, when Qin Shengli came back home, Big Sister Bai noticed he hadn’t actually been at work. But she pretended not to know and simply told him about the argument she’d had with his mother earlier.
In summary, it was about bearing a son. But there was no guarantee the next child would be a son. And she had hemorrhaged badly when giving birth to their second daughter. The thought of another pregnancy terrified her.
As Qin Shengli listened to his wife, his mother’s recent nagging echoed in his mind.
The family’s stable jobs will go to outsiders. What woman doesn’t have children? Bearing a son is a woman’s duty. If you don’t succeed the first time, try again. Don’t let the family line end.
These words kept flashing through Qin Shengli’s mind, leaving him restless all night.
Bai Lian, however, thought Qin Shengli had taken her words to heart, just like last time. So she slept well and went to work happily the next morning. But at noon, when she went to find Qin Shengli for lunch, he turned her down. She didn’t think much of it—just assumed he was busy with work.
When she came home that evening, she found that Qin Shengli had eaten dinner and gone back out. He said he was going to work overtime, but Bai Lian knew he was probably hiding from family matters again, just like the day before.
It filled her with deep disappointment.
——
Meanwhile, although Bai Lian’s family was worried about her situation, none of them were directly involved, and no one could make decisions for her.
When the weekend arrived, Mother Bai and Father Bai headed out early in the morning, saying they were going to visit their eldest daughter.
Bai Lan, on the other hand, changed her clothes and prepared to go out with Qin Yan and Datou. The three of them had been invited by Xu Jianbei the previous week to have a meal together at a state-run restaurant.
But just as they were about to leave, Qin Yan and Datou both claimed they had sudden matters to attend to, telling Bai Lan to go to the appointment alone. Bai Lan was a bit confused. In the end, she had no choice but to head to the state-run restaurant by herself to meet Xu Jianbei.
Watching Bai Lan’s retreating figure, Qin Yan couldn’t help but punch Datou on the arm. “Are we really okay with letting Lanlan go alone?”
Datou winced, rubbed his shoulder, and muttered, “Why wouldn’t it be okay? Those two clearly have things to talk about. Us not going is perfect.”
After all, Bai Lan herself had said she liked someone like Brother Bei. And Brother Bei was a single man. A good man, too. It wasn’t like he seemed uninterested. As his junior, what else could he do? Just create an opportunity so the two of them could get straight to the point and confirm their relationship sooner.
—
Bai Lan suddenly understood all this when she saw Xu Jianbei. She shook her head with a laugh and looked at him.
Xu Jianbei immediately tugged at the hem of his clothes, worried that something about his appearance wasn’t quite right.
Seeing his reaction, Bai Lan’s smile deepened.
“Ahem, that kid Datou could’ve said earlier that he couldn’t make it,” Xu Jianbei said, carefully observing Bai Lan’s expression. Seeing that her smile hadn’t faded at all, his courage grew.
“But I suppose it’s a good thing he and that female comrade didn’t come. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the chance to talk alone.”
Bai Lan nodded in agreement. She, too, wanted a place where she could slowly talk with Xu Jianbei and confirm a few things.
“Comrade Bai Lan, what do you think of me?”
“I think you’re good-looking, and your character seems very good as well,” Bai Lan answered honestly, without any coyness. And that was one of the things Xu Jianbei admired about her.
But Bai Lan was curious about what Xu Jianbei really thought. The number of times they had truly met and interacted could be counted on one hand. She had become interested in getting to know him because he was handsome. But what about Xu Jianbei?
Xu Jianbei answered her question very frankly. “From the way you handled the marriage arrangement with Song Guoping, I thought you were a smart person. Seeing how you get along with your family and how you care about your eldest sister, I know you’re a kind person. And of course, you’re also very beautiful—you suit my taste perfectly.”
Bai Lan was very pleased to hear that last part. Her original self looked exactly like her—oval-faced, with big eyes and a high nose. She liked herself, and she liked her appearance. Now that a man she admired had said she was beautiful, she was naturally overjoyed.
The two happy people looked at each other, both feeling their heartbeats quicken.
“Should we try being in a relationship?”
“Are you willing to be in a relationship with me?”
They spoke in unison, then looked at each other and burst out laughing again. This time, the joy in their hearts surged like a spring.
Bai Lan thought that being in a relationship was a process of getting to know each other deeply. She was very curious to see what would happen along the way.
—
The newly minted couple sat down happily at the state-run restaurant to eat. This belated meal turned into a celebration of their new relationship.
Food that was already delicious became even more so. Even the noisy dining hall couldn’t ruin their good mood.
After the meal, Xu Jianbei suggested they go for a walk in the park. Bai Lan agreed, and they prepared to leave. But just then, they saw Bai Lan’s eldest brother-in-law, with his arm around a few other men, walking down from the private rooms on the second floor of the restaurant.
Leave a Reply